Finding My Heart
by mabynot1539
Summary: Years after the Final Battle, Harry stumbles across a broken child. Will he find what is missing from his life? Slight Weasley bashing. Current T rating due to references to child abuse. Post-Hogwarts (after the Final Battle.) Compliant with books but not that horrible Epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

Finding My Heart

It was November 2010 in London. The economy was slowly recovering but jobs were still hard to find and money was scarce. A landscaper, Walter, wiped his brow and scowled at the pile of dirt. His mind went back to his earlier conversation with Mr. Hickman and his henchmen. Mr. Hickman called himself a businessman but he was really a loan shark. Six months ago, Walter's wife, Cathy, developed a serious medical condition and desperately needed surgery. Walter who had just started his own landscaping business tried every legitimate means to find the money but in a moment of desperation turned to Mr. Hickman. Cathy had her surgery and was slowly recovering. Every penny that Walter made went to pay Mr. Hickman but with the high interest rates that he was being charged, Walter could never get caught up.

He was working at an office building near an alley that seemed unusually busy. He only barely noticed the almost constant stream of nicely-dressed people entering and exiting the alley all day but now near the end of the day had slowed to a trickle. On the other side of the alley was a newly demolished office building. The struggling economy broke many businesses and the government was removing redundant building to spur future development. As he started to put his tools away for the day, he heard a small mewling sound. He almost dismissed it as a stray cat but something about the sound nagged at his consciousness. He decided that a small look couldn't hurt and crossed over the the rubble and started to look around.

Harry Potter was angry. He had left the Ministry of Magic and had run into the last people that he wanted to see in the atrium. Ron and Hermione Weasley had entered the building as Harry was exiting. The two men scowled at each other and veered away from each other. After the defeat of Voldemort, the former Golden Trio returned to school to finish their education with the other survivors. The Wizarding world was not ready to leave their heroes in peace. Harry simply wanted to live his life and avoid the spotlight. HE had no problem with his friends basking in the adoration of the world but he just wanted a simple life. Ron Weasley had finally started getting some attention that he had always craved and no longer felt like just another "Weasley". He and Hermione quickly married upon graduation and bother started carriers at the Ministry. Harry chose to travel after graduation and slowly started to drift farther away from his attention seeking friends. He never attempted to restart his relationship with Ginny. She had quickly fallen head over heels in love with Neville Longbottom and remained firmly attached to his side. As Harry exited the alley entrance to the Ministry, he heard sounds of moving debris and noticed the muggle landscaper moving broken pieces of lumber.

Walter couldn't believe his eyes when he got closer to the building and saw a small arm under the debris. He quickly started moving pieces of rubble as the mewing sounds got louder. Harry almost started moving away when he also heard the mewling sounds. He quietly pulled his wand out a started casting detection spells under the debris. His spells revealed a small child who was badly hurt. A further spell revealed that the child was magical but radiating strange signs. Harry started to rush over to help the struggling muggle but did not want to draw attention to himself. He quickly shot a boosting spell at Walter who was quickly able to remove the debris away from the child. Before Harry could move, he was pushed aside as a witch quickly moved from the alley behind him to help the small child.

Padma Patil rushed to the side of the small child and started casting diagnostic spells. An accomplished healer, she had been filing some paperwork at the ministry to start her own clinic when she saw Harry in the alley with his wand out. As soon as she saw the hurt child, she brushed past Harry and started to work. Harry was quickly beside her and started to question the muggle. As the muggle explained what he heard and saw, Harry gently probed his mind and found out about Walter and his troubles. As an Unspeakable, Harry was allowed to use Legilimency to protect the magical world. He also cast a short Obliviate and sent the muggle back to work at the office building after depositing a small bundle into Walter's pocket. When Walter's head cleared he was at the office building with his tools packed, ready to head back home to his wife. As he reached into his pocket to get his cell phone to call her, he pulled out a small bundle of bills. It was enough money to pay off Mr. Hickman and pay some of his bills. With a lighter heart, he rushed home to his wife.


	2. Chapter 2

The boy was in pain. He was used to pain but this was the worst pain that he had ever felt. He had been forced to accompany his family on a shopping trip because his usual babysitter was out of town visiting her relatives. He traveled to London so that his relatives could window shop to prepare for upcoming holiday shopping trips. They seemed to enjoy spending obscene amounts of money of themselves and tormenting him. He knew that like every holiday before, he would be doing most of the work and never receive any gifts. He was struggling to keep up with them.

His chest hurt with every breath. He knew something had broken the night before when he had been given a sharp kick to the ribs after dinner when he was discovered licking the food off his relatives plates while washing them. He had been pushed, shoved, and kicked all the way from the kitchen to his small room. Now, as late afternoon turned to early evening, his relatives huddled together to try to decide what to do with him while they went to a restaurant for dinner. Finally, it was decided. He would wait in the bushes at the side of a nearby office building while his relatives went to a nearby restaurant. After pushing him into the shrubbery and admonishing the boy not to be seen or noticed, they went on their way to enjoy a large, lavish meal.

As the boy waited, he slowly began to observe his surroundings. He started to notice a steady stream of strangely dressed adults walking in and out of the nearby alley. The boy knew what was strange and what was normal. His relatives harped on this subject every day. Any abnormality among any of his relatives' neighbors was discussed at every meal time. As it was his job to scrub the pots and pans then wait for the dishes, the boy heard every word. He knew that he was strange. His relatives took every opportunity to remind him that he was not a member of their family. He was a relative and they were forced to care for him whether they wanted to or not. It was their duty and considered normal. He knew that the second that they could justify it, they would find a way to permanently remove him from their home.

The pain in his chest brought the boy out of his musings. His breathing became more difficult as his broken ribs pressed on his small lungs and the evening air grew colder. He looked at the people coming and going from the alley and wondered what if they would think that he was strange too. Would they help him? He worried what would happen if his relatives discovered that he sought outside help. His relatives told him time and again that if not for their benevolence, he would be in an orphanage.

Whenever they could, they would point out how horrible orphanages were. One day, his relatives brought home a stack of books from the local library and read passages to him from the books about horrific abuses that took place in orphanages. Some of the books told stories of small children like him. Other passages were from dry textbooks whose horrifying statistics fed some of his worst nightmares.

The boy wondered if anyone in the world could understand what he was going through and could help him. He closed his eyes and started to wish. Even though he knew most wishes don't come true, he liked to pretend that they did. He wished for someone who could help him. He wished for someone that could heal him. But mainly, he wished for someone to keep him safe. He tried his best to separate his mind from his painful chest and concentrate only on his wish. The air inside of his lungs seemed to tingle for a few seconds when he suddenly started to feel like he was being squeezed through a tube. In a flash of light, he vanished and then the weight of rubble and stone crashed on his body, breaking his concentration and bringing the new pain of his crash to the forefront of his mind.

The boy could smell dust and feel the dirt on his skin. The boards and bricks pierced his skin and the pain in his arms and legs was even worse than his ribs. Short of breath and unable to fully inflate his lungs, he softly started to moan.


	3. Chapter 3

Padma Patil worked quickly and efficiently, waving her wand as if she were conducting an orchestra. Harry was impressed with her determination. He remembered the pretty Ravenclaw prefect that Ron treated so badly at the Yule Ball. Harry never got the chance to apologize to Pavarti but remembered how both girls stood beside him with the DA.

Padma worked quickly to stabilize the young boy. She decided to become a Healer after the Final Battle. So many of her friends were hurt and injured and she felt helpless as she watched them suffer but could do nothing to help. Padma worked very hard to complete her training, volunteering to apprentice in some of the hardest hit areas after the war. Now that her training was complete, she was preparing to open her own practice.

She quickly healed most of the superficial wounds as she ran diagnostic tests over and over again. As she worked on the boy, Harry noticed that her expression changed from concern to astonishment. She looked from the boy to Harry back to the boy again. Harry was amazed when she declared that the boy needed to be transported to her clinic. Harry started to mention that St. Mungo's was nearby but Padma insisted. She pulled out a piece of rope from her healer's bag and laid it on the boy's chest and handed the other end to Harry. As soon as he grabbed it, she tapped it with her wand and they sped away.

Popping into the backroom of her clinic, Padma quickly placed the boy on an exam table while Harry looked around the room. Unopened boxes of medical supplies and new equipment were placed against the walls. Harry went to a nearby window and looked at the landscape. Outside the window was a small park surrounded by houses that had sprung up after the war. For a moment, he thought that they were in a muggle area until he looked in the distance and saw the Shrieking Shack.

Harry had not been back to Hogsmead or Hogwarts since attending the funerals for his friends killed at the final battle. He had heard that many who had sought refuge there had remained to help rebuild the castle before settling into newly built homes in the nearby village. The post-war economy of many wizarding settlements were in financial ruin until Gringotts announced low interest loans for rebuilding homes and businesses and for new construction. Previously unowned plots of land surrounding magical communities were offered at next to nothing if the new owners signed contracts to build homes and remain in them for at least 20 years. Those whose homes and businesses had been destroyed were able to rebuild. Work was available to any willing witch or wizard. The populations grew as wizarding families now longer had the threat of death and destruction hanging over their lives. Hogsmead no longer depended on Hogwarts students to sustain itself. Its population had tripled and now its main shopping district rivaled Diagon Alley.

Padma can up behind Harry as he looked out the window. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned around. Her bright brown eyes were shining with a strange mixture of curiosity and soberness. She explained that the boy had no life-threatening injuries and would physically recover but that she placed him in a medical coma because his magical core was dangerously low.

They went to the boy's bedside and watched the boy sleep. Padma had cleaned up the boy and his clothing magically. His wild, dark hair contrasted with his pale skin. Padma again looked Harry in the eyes and asked him if he knew who the boy was. Harry just shook his head and replied negatively. Then Padma reached over and lifted the boy's hair off his head and asked Harry the same question again.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry stared at the boy's forehead while absentmindedly raising his hand to his own. That famous scar had faded from him after the final battle until it was barely noticeable. But there is was on the pale boy's skin, just as he remembered it.

Padma was concerned. While treating the boy, she had noticed his resemblance to Harry but assumed that the boy was probably Harry's child. She had run multiple diagnostic charms over the boy to look for any usual readings. Other than the scraps and bumps from the debris at the building's demolition site and the strange readings from his forehead, the boy was a literal poster child for abuse.

Practically every bone in his body had been broken or sprained. Every major muscle group had evidence of soft tissue damage. Many vital organs indicated severe stress. She was amazed that the child demonstrated lucidity despite the number of times that he had been concussed. Even the boy's privates showed damage from at least a few brutal beatings.

Padma had successfully managed to heal most of the damage and hopefully when the boy awoke he would be fully healed. She pulled out a piece of parchment and cast a spell to record her notes and document his injuries. She then turned to Harry to try to figure out this mystery and his connection to the boy.

Harry was flabbergasted. He had been in a lot of unusual situations before but his mind was trying to comprehend what he was seeing. He cataloged the boys features and compared them to his own. The boy had dark, untamed hair and that damned lightning bolt scar on his forehead. The boy was also appeared to be very underweight and scrawny. He couldn't guess his age but assumed him to be 3-4 years old but wasn't sure because of the lines around the boy's eyes and mouth that bespoke of worry and stress.

Harry knew that he couldn't be related to the boy. Neither of his parents had any remaining relatives. After he finished his schooling, Harry spent several months searching for any unknown relatives at all, no matter how distant. Other than the ones that he knew (the Blacks, the Weasleys, the Longbottoms, the Malfoys, and the Dursleys) no other relatives could be found. He knew that the child wasn't his son because he had been celibate since shortly after school ended. If there had been a child it would have to be at least 8-9 years old. Finally unable to come to any kind of solution, he turned to Padma and asked for her assessment of the boy.

Padma handed Harry the list of injuries and explained what she had found. She pointed out the unusual readings from the scar on the boy's forehead. Harry immediately recognized what those readings meant. This boy had a horcrux in his head just as he had at that age.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry did not understand how this boy could be so like he was as a child and yet be so different. He knew that this boy was physically similar but Harry couldn't understand the boy's underlying abused condition. Harry's relatives hated him. They took every opportunity to berate and belittle him but physically they rarely touched him and never beat him. He would sometimes get a push or a shove and occasionally they would grab him by his oversized clothing to drag him along but they always seemed repulsed at actually touching any part of him.

Harry handed the parchment back to Padma and moved closer to the boy to look at him more closely. He started examining the boy for any differences between the two of them. He found the small mole on the side of his neck that many people never noticed. Harry remembered the small scar on the side of his hand that never would heal even by magical means. He pulled the thin but warm cover off of the boy to uncover his hands and saw the same small scar on the side of the boy's hand. He then reached down to grab the boy's hand to examine the scar more closely.

The moment their hands touched, Harry felt a shock wave pass through his body. His brain started filling with forgotten memories. The memory of every slap, every kick, and every punch from his relatives came back to him as if his memories had been obviated and then restored. Even the small memory of being thrown into his cupboard and catching the side of his hand on one of the many locks on its door came rushing to the forefront of his mind. Even after releasing the boy's hand, the memories continued to flow through Harry's consciousness. Harry staggered backward until his back hit the wall and he grabbed a nearby table to keep from falling down on the floor. Even the memory of being forced to hide in the shrubbery by his relatives, then wishing for help, and then falling unconscious from the crush of falling debris came to his mind.

Harry shuttered as his brain tried to accommodate his new and old memories. He had never before remembered anything about his early childhood (except for what he remembered about his parents whenever he was near Dementors.) Most of that time was just a fuzzy wash of vague memories of his relative's cruel taunts. Despite his relative's mean words, Harry had always believed that his parents had loved him. He never remembered hearing them say it but he felt it in his heart and that thought surrounded his heart like a barrier no matter what his relatives said to him as a child.

Harry's earliest clear memories began when he started school when he was six. For some reason, he didn't start at the beginning of the school year with Dudley (who was only few months older than him.) Instead, his relatives kept him home. He had always assumed that they tried to keep anyone from knowing about him but one of Dudley's gang mentioned Harry to some of the other children and one of the teachers overheard and started to make inquires. His aunt and uncle tried to convince the school officials that Harry was mentally deficient and unable to learn but were legally unable to keep him out of school without too many unwanted questions being asked.

Harry knew what he had to do.


	6. Chapter 6

Padma considered herself to be an intelligent witch. She received top marks among her Ravenclaw peers at Hogwarts and in her healer training. She had apprenticed with a traveling healer and had been taught many usual spells and rituals. She also considered herself to be very open-minded compared to many of her peers. Seeing two Harrys, one a boy and another a man, had her questioning her own sanity.

As she had healed the boy, she almost immediately noticed the unusual curse scar on his forehead but did not dwell on it as she worked on his more serious and life-threatening injuries first. Every diagnostic scan revealed new injury upon old injuries. Again and again she ran diagnostic spells and then healing spells. At first, her diagnostic spells were more generalized and focused on major traumatic injuries first. As the boy's most serious injuries were healed, she started adding more specialized diagnostic spells.

She noticed the boy's resemblance to Harry and first assumed that he was a relative. As she was preparing to open her own clinic, the last thing that she wanted to do was jeopardize her reputation by doing less than her very best for a relative of the "Savior of the Wizarding World". Padma had no problem admitting to herself that she had been a fan girl of the "Boy Who Lived" while still in Hogwarts. She noticed things like the small scar on the back of his hand and the mole on the side of his neck that many other people overlooked. As a healer, she knew that even identical twins (like the Weasley brothers) did not share the exact same moles and scars.

One of the specialized spells that she performed was an identity spell. It was normally used in other countries on patients who couldn't be identified through normal channels or on lost children. It indicated the patient's parents names, legal name, and the name they called themselves. When Padma performed the spell on the boy, it listed his parents as "James Potter" and "Lily Evans Potter" and it listed himself as "Harry Potter" and "Boy". She kept working on the boy as quickly and efficiently as she could. She knew that there was something strange going on but put her patient's well-being before her own curiosity.

When she had done all that she could do for the boy and had completed her medical report, she turned to study Harry. She saw his stoic features change to concern and confusion as he read the parchment. When he looked from the scar on his hand to the scar on the boy's hand, she knew that he was putting the puzzle pieces together. When Harry touched the boy's hand, a strong, magical flash illuminated the two of them for a split second and Harry flung himself back until he hit the wall and clung to it for dear life.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything that Harry knew about his early childhood had been a lie. He had been beaten, abused, and treated worse than any house elf (even Dobby had known his own name.) Any good memories that he had from his first 18 months of life had been completely obliterated by his relatives' treatment in just five short years.

Harry remembered the evening that everything changed. He remembered how hard it was for him to breathe and the pain from his injuries. He remembered making a wish for help and then blacking out. Then he next remembered waking up in his cupboard the next morning healed and feeling happy. The abuse from his relatives changed overnight to only verbal abuse and forcing his to complete chores. He knew that something had happened to change how his relatives treated him.

Harry looked at the boy resting peacefully and then turned to Padma. She was sitting on a stool calmly waiting for him to speak to her. Harry's work as an Unspeakable trained him to pick up on Padma's state of mind very quickly by reading her aura and using a light Legilimency sweep of her mind. He knew that she trusted him completely and had already figured out the boy's identity. He already knew that she was intelligent (her grades at Hogwarts had rivaled Hermione's.) He also remembered a report that he had read about her work in other countries where pestilence and war devastated many indigent populations. The healer that she had apprenticed under had rescued many valuable healing books and journals from local shaman (which had been delivered to the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries.) Harry had the privilege of studying them after cataloging their contents and storing them for future researchers.

One of the rituals popped into his mind. It was developed to protect loved ones who were forced into marriage with someone from another tribe or village (usually to settle a treaty or to satisfy dispute.) It prevented anyone from physically harming them, especially by those who were not related by blood or by blood relatives who disowned them. Many family members were afraid of what might happen to their loved one who might be forced to live in a hostile or unfriendly environment that was too far away to escape or to get help from their kinsmen. The ritual only provided protection for 10 years but could be renewed if needed.

Harry had considered the usefulness of the ritual for muggleborn children living in the muggle world (like Tom Riddle), but after the war, a specialized department of the Ministry and many new laws were created to watch over and protect muggleborns from harm and to introduce them to the Wizarding world as soon as they were discovered. Harry had even thought that it would be perfect for him if his relatives had been physically abusive.

But Harry now knew that his relatives had physically abused him and if it had continued that he would most likely never live to attend Hogwarts. He knew that he had to perform this ritual and then send the boy back even though a small part of himself wanted to wrap his arms around the boy and never let go.


	8. Chapter 8

Padma looked at Harry the man and then Harry the boy. She was calmly trying to reconcile what was happening. She know that Harry had grown up with his Muggle relatives who hated magic but did not know that he had been abused. She had heard rumors during school and after the war that their treatment of him had been far worse than he ever admitted but couldn't believe that someone did not notice if it had been worse. Wouldn't his magical guardians have noticed when they checked up on him? In the magical world, having more than one child per family was uncommon. Magical children were treasured and protected. With so much inter-marrying among pure blood families, if a magical child family was accused of abusing their child, the nearest relation would take the child to live with them to monitor the situation and to protect the child.

Padma estimated that Harry the boy was six and came from 1985. Muggle child welfare had vastly improved in the last 30 years. Her healer training had taken her to many countries and places where Muggles and wizards lived side by side. Padma had seen firsthand how differently Muggle children were treated. She realized that what Harry had experienced as a child was much more horrific than anyone could have imagined. She knew how much Harry's past contributed to the man that he became. But she also knew that she could never allow a child to be sent back to relive that horror. Padma wondered how Harry planned to choose a solution. She did not know how the boy arrived from the past or if (or how) he could be returned. She looked at Harry and saw the firmness on his face. She organized her arguments to protect the child from being sent back.

Harry saw the look on Padma's face and recognized the expression from when they were in the DA together. That fierce yet determined look always tugged at his heart even back at Hogwarts. Now it also affected another part of his anatomy. He knew that as a healer, she would have a problem allowing the boy to be returned and placed in harm's way. She took a magical oath when she started her training to do everything legally and ethically to protect her patients, no matter who they were or where they came from.


	9. Chapter 9

Harry stood up and went back over to the boy. He gently placed his hand on his head and worked at smoothing down the untamed locks. The boy turned his head into the hand. Padma came over and stood on the other side of the boy and looked at Harry quizzically. Harry knew that he could just take the boy and do as his wished but felt that he owed Padma an explanation. He tried explained to Padma about his relationship with this relatives.

Harry knew that Vernon was simply a mean, jealous bully. He discreetly looked into his background after he became an Unspeakable. Vernon and his sister Marge both had long juvenile records for violence and cruelty that had been sealed when they reached adulthood. Vernon had never spoken about his parents but Harry had discovered that Vernon's mother had left her family while her children were still toddlers to move to the another country with another man. Vernon's father was a workaholic who left the children to their own devices. The children were watched over by bitter maiden aunt who let the children run wild. The only lesson that Vernon and Marge ever learned was to cover up their crimes or to blame them on others. The only thing that their father cared about was keeping up appearances and only disciplined the children when their behavior publicly embarrassed him.

Harry knew that Petunia had been terribly jealous of his mother not only for her beauty and friendliness to others but also for her magical ability. He had tested his aunt and cousin and knew that they were both squibs and not muggles. He also discovered that his aunt was sensitive to magic. One day he had disillusioned himself and walked up behind her in public. He wandlessly and wordlessly performed a few minor spells every few minutes. Every spell that he cast caused an unconscious reaction in his aunt. She would shudder, take a deep breath, or glance over her shoulder.

His relationship with Dudley had greatly improved and they exchanged letters and cards since he had moved into the Wizarding world. Dudley had always been a prat to Harry when they were children but Harry knew that is was because his cousin was doing what he was taught. Every time that he did something to or said something about Harry, he was rewarded by his parents. While Dudley was too fat and slow to actually catch or hurt Harry, sometimes the things that he said did bother him. It wasn't until after the summer after fifth year (and the Dementor attack) that Dudley was truly different. He stopped picking on Harry. Even when his parents tried, Dudley would just change the subject. His parents thought that it was because he did not want to be reminded about the Dementor attack and was still affected by it.

In reality, Dudley had spent the school year talking to his school counselor and reading books about abuse and family relationships. On the first day that the boys were left home together, Dudley apologized to Harry for his past behavior and they declared a truce. In private the spoke to each other and were cordial but around others they mutually avoided each other. Not only did this bring some peace the household but also pleased Vernon and Petunia. It also prevented anyone from discovered their friendly relationship and protected Dudley from anyone from the Wizarding world who might try to hurt Dudley to get to Harry. Now that Voldemort was defeated and most of the Death Eaters were locked up, Harry wanted to make sure that any experience that Dudley had with the Wizarding world was positive in case any of Dudley's future children were magical.

Padma was still reluctant to allow to boy to return. Even if the physical abuse stopped, she was still concerned about the emotional and psychological abuse. Harry had already taken this into consideration though as he tried to explain his reasoning to her. The only real information that he got about his parents from his aunt was that they were unemployed, drunks who died in a car crash. Any other questions were met with silence. Whenever Dudley had asked about his grandparents on either side, he was simply told that they loved him very dearly and that they were in heaven watching over him. Vernon never spoke about his parents. He simply turned puce and would remain silent or leave the room.

Harry realized that after the boy returned that his relatives radically changed. Instead of physically hitting him every chance that they got, they went out of the way to avoid him. Unless he was needed for chores, and he was kept out of their sight (like when he was in his cupboard), his aunt and uncle almost acted as though he didn't exist. What little interaction that he had with his uncle, usually included the standard threat of staying quiet and not attracting any attention to himself. The closest to touching him that his uncle did was to get in his face and wag his fat, squishy finger at him and issue a threat of violence. Harry had always believed that they avoided hitting him to prevent any unwanted attention or questions from school officials or healthcare workers. Harry knew that his aunt and uncle would visit his teacher at the beginning of the school year to explain how they had been burdened with their untrustworthy and manipulative nephew who was always causing trouble for their poor Dudley. With no signs of any abuse (physical or otherwise), any trouble that occurred was ultimately blamed on Harry and never Dudley.

While never starving him, his aunt gave him the barest minimum of food whenever Vernon was not around. Harry learned very quickly to eat what he was given as quickly and as quietly as possible or it would be taken by Vernon or Dudley and he would get nothing for the rest of the day. Harry was also given the responsibility of doing the dishes and helping his aunt to clear the table. Petunia would put away most of the food but there would always be something left that she would tell Harry to get rid of and then she would leave Harry, the 'unwanted leftovers', and the dirty dishes to join her family. Harry would quickly eat what was left and finished the washing up before returning to his cupboard.

Harry never felt emotionally abused by his relatives. He knew that they did not love or want him. They never tried to treat him like a member of their family. But no matter how silent they were about his parents, Harry knew that this parents had loved him and that they were watching over him from Heaven with his grandparents just like Dudley was being watched over by his grandparents. He felt it inside of himself and sometimes he dreamed that they visited him, hugged him, and told him how much they loved him.

Padma was still not convinced. She wanted to know how Harry could be sure that the boy would be protected. If the boy was injured by his relatives, even accidentally, and not properly cared for then he could sustain permanent damage. Even being fed regularly would not prevent malnutrition if the food was not nourishing. Harry assured her that he had everything planned out and that he had a way to make sure that the boy was watched over and carefully monitored.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry knew that the other Unspeakables would be unhappy with his disclosing one of their top secrets to an outsider but he trusted Padma. He opened his collar and pulled out a pendant from a chain around his neck. He brought his wand up to it and tapped it while whispering a spell. The small metallic pendant grew from the size of a small match box to the size of a sandwich. The front had a small screen which had two sets of small numbers. The first set of numbers was slower growing larger. The outer case was clear and inside was a small hourglass encased in a clear globe with several colored rings (like the rings around Saturn) circling around it.

Harry explained that all the time turners in the Department of Mysteries were destroyed during the battle in his fifth year except that what the public did not know was that Unspeakables used a special device that while similar to a standard time turner, it was actually much more. A standard time turner could only send a person (or two) back in time for a few hours at a time. What the Unspeakables used was much more powerful because it could send several people back or forward in time up to several decades. It could also send them to a specific set of coordinates at the same time. They drew on the magical power of the user. A squib or muggle would be unable to use it.

No one outside the Unspeakables knew of their existence. They took a special magical vow that they would not use them to make changes to history. Most of the time, they were used for observing the past, uncovering the cause of a magical accident, or to observe the creation of a obsolete or obscure spell.

Harry explained his plan to Padma. Use the time turner to take the boy back home to his proper time, perform the necessary spells to protect the boy, and then use the time turner to advance forward every month or so for a few minutes to check up on the boy until he received his Hogwarts letter. If the boy was hurt or injured, he could be cured without anyone knowing. If any spells needed adjusting, they would only take a few minutes.

Harry knew that he could not escape his past with his relatives but he knew that he could provide himself with enough protection to survive. Padma still had her reservations but insisted that she be allowed to accompany them. Harry agreed and carefully set the coordinates into the time turner while Padma gathered up medical supplies from around the clinic before running another diagnostic on the still unconscious boy. He was healed but exhausted.

Harry pulled a small tab out of the side of the time turner and pulled out a thin chain. He then handed the end of the chain to Padma and picked up the boy in his arms. The boy snuggled into his chest. Harry instructed Padma to stand close to his side as possible and then tapped the device with his wand.


	11. Chapter 11

Padma stiffened as the air around her changed. The air was cool and crisp without any sounds or smells. Everything around them blurred and then snapped into place. The entire trip lasted only a few seconds. It was late in the evening and they were standing in the middle of the backyard of #4 Privet Drive.

Harry pointed his wand at the back door and it unlocked and opened. Padma followed Harry and the boy inside where Harry laid the boy on the couch in the sitting room. Padma looked around the overly tidy house. The faint underlying odor of cleaning products lingered in the air. Harry went over to the cupboard under the stairs and took a deep breath before opening the door.

The interior of the closet held the faint smell of blood, unwashed bedding, and urine. Harry started casting cleaning spells on everything, hauling some of the larger objects out into the hallway to get to every crack and crevice. He found the loose floorboard that he had discovered when he was eight and loosened it some more and left it slightly out of place. He placed an ever-cleaning and ever-softening charm on the mattress but he left it looking horribly stained so that no one would notice any changes. He added a charm to discourage any harmful insects from entering the cupboard (as he still fondly remembered the friendly spiders.) He placed a small expansion charm on the interior with a subtle muggle repelling/notice-me-not spell (that would prevent his relatives from looking around inside of it. He added an ambient light charm to the paint on the walls that would absorb light when the door was open than release the light when the door was closed. It would prevent the cupboard from being totally dark.

Next, Harry placed everything back into the cupboard and closed the door. He removed all of the locks except for the sliding bolt because he remembered jiggling it just right from the inside would cause it to fall open by itself. (He had discovered when he was nine that he could slide a loop of string through the vent and onto the bolt to close it from within the cupboard and then release one side and pull the string back into the cupboard so that no one would know that it was ever unlocked.) Harry also placed a charm on the floorboards outside the cupboard that led past the lavatory to the kitchen to prevent them from making any noise. This would help the boy from being discovered if he needed to use the washroom or sneak food from the kitchen.

Harry then went to his uncle's study. Vernon would always go straight to his study after work and for several hours on the weekend. He placed several compulsion charms on the chair. When Vernon sat in the chair he would think only about work and all thoughts of Harry would slip out of his mind. When Vernon looked at the picture of his wife and son on his desk, he would think about spending more of his spare time with Dudley to keep Dudley from being affected by Harry's magic. Harry made sure that if his uncle was thinking about Harry when he entered his study, that his mind would quickly fill with other thoughts and any thoughts of Harry would slip away as unimportant.

Harry then went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet. His aunt always wore an apron over her clothes unless she was expecting guests. She had seven of them that she had bought when she first got married and alternated wearing a different one every day. He placed a very specific personality charm on them. Whenever they were worn, the person wearing them would feel slightly paranoid and think that they were being watched and judged by outsiders.

He knew that Petunia always feared what other people thought of her. She and Vernon tried to maintain a certain image of the perfect family. While she did her best to avoid anyone knowing that Harry lived with them, she knew that the nosy cat lady from Magnolia Crescent, Mrs. Figg would stop her on the street and ask about him.

Petunia also had a ceramic dish on her kitchen windowsill that had been a present from Vernon before they were married. Before she started cooking, she would place her jewelry inside until she was done. Harry placed a charm on the dish so that she when she touched it, she would be reminded that Harry needed food for energy for his chores or someone would notice how thin he was and ask too many embarrassing questions.

Dudley had been given a set of tableware in his favorite cartoon characters for Christmas by Aunt Marge. Harry remembered that Dudley used them for every meal except for when guests were invited. Harry added a compulsion charm to them. It would cause Dudley to ignore Harry in favor of going out to play with his friends, using his computer to play games, or watching his favorite TV shows.

Harry then went outside to the front of the house and placed a charm on the sidewalk leading up to the house and the porch which allowed Vernon and Petunia to hear everything said inside the house while outside. It would make them believe that their neighbors could hear everyone inside the house talking and make them watch what they said.

Harry went upstairs to his aunt and uncle's room. He placed a charm on the bed to allow anyone who laid down on it to go into a deep restful sleep for at least six hours. The sleep spell would only waken the sleeper if someone touched them or called their name. It was a popular spell for Aurors in training who lived in dorms. (Harry wished that he had known about it at Hogwarts.) He also placed the spell on Dudley's bed. He figured that it would help little Harry be able to sneak around at night without being caught by his relatives. At the very least, a restful night sleep could only help to keep his relatives in better moods the next day (and prevent them from taking their bad moods out on Harry.)


	12. Chapter 12

Harry returned to the sitting room. Padma was performing another diagnostic scan on little Harry. She trusted Harry but was worried that they had overlooked something. Harry bent down to pick up the boy from the couch. As he placed his arms under him to lift him up, the boy was jostled awake. Harry knew that the boy couldn't see very clearly without wearing glasses so he leaned over and kissed the boy's head and ruffled his hair. He placed his mouth near his ear and told him how much he loved him. Pretending to be his own father, Harry told the boy how both he and his mum loved him and would watch over him. Signaling to Padma after casting a quick charm on her hair, she leaned down to his other ear (pretending to be his mum) and told him to be brave and that she would do everything that she could to protect him. Harry put a strong sleeping spell on the boy and placed him on the mattress in the cupboard. He closed the door (without locking it) and went into the sitting room with Padma.

Harry placed a disillusionment spell on both himself and Padma. Then he used a spell to compel the Dursleys to come back to their house. It only took about a half hour when they pulled up in the driveway. Once they entered the house, Harry placed them under a modified Imperious spell and sent to to change into their nightclothes to go to bed. Once they were in their beds, Harry and Padma followed them to the bedrooms and started placing spells on them.

The first spell that he used on Vernon was Legilimency. Harry wanted to know why Vernon was so angry with him. Harry got a big surprise. Vernon believed in magic before Petunia told him. Vernon's great-uncle was locked up for becoming senile but had told Vernon many stories about the Wizarding World. Everyone in the family just thought that the old man was crazy but Vernon believed the horrible, frightening stories that he had been told. Harry sifted through his uncle's memories of the stories and knew that the great-uncle had been telling the truth. Vernon was also afraid that even though Dudley had never shown any magically ability that someday he or his children might turn out to be witches or wizards.

Harry explained to Padma what he had found and what he was going to do to Vernon. Harry carefully found all the memories of Vernon's great uncle and his stories of the Wizarding World and locked them away deep in Vernon's memories. He did not want Vernon to completely lose this information in case he needed it in the future. Harry took that space in his uncle's memories and filled it with fake memories of talking to Dudley about things that Vernon and Dudley had in common (mostly taking up boxing, going to Smeltings, and visiting Aunt Marge.)

Harry next used Legilimency on Aunt Petunia. He remembered the conversation. When Hagrid came to get him on his eleventh birthday. He always assumed that Petunia was simply jealous of Lily's magic and the attention that her parents lavished on Lily after they found out that she was a witch. Harry discovered the letter that Petunia was more than just jealous. He discovered the letter that Petunia wrote to Dumbledore begging to attend Hogwarts. When Lily's letter had been delivered by a Hogwarts' professor, Petunia had been tested for magic. Petunia had more magic than a squib but not enough to study magic. Petunia's bitterness and disappointment turned into hatred for Lily and all things magical, including Harry.

Padma had some ideas of her own when Harry explained that his aunt wasn't a muggle or squib. It wasn't commonly known but Petunia's condition was not rare in the Wizarding World. It usually created hostility within a family when one member had less magic than another. Nothing could be done to increase the magic of a near-squib. Petunia would still be able to sense whenever Harry performed magic because of her own sensitivity to magic itself. Once Padma told her idea, Harry knew just what to do. He used binding spells normally reserved for children with overactive magic which prevented accidental magical outbursts. These spells would normally be taken off the child when they started their magical training. Since Petunia would never study magic, Harry simply sealed off her magic within her core. This would prevent any magic from leaking while at the same time preventing Petunia from sensing if little Harry performed any magic. Harry then also placed a spell on Petunia that would concentrate her attention on the opinions of outsiders. Hopefully she would spend so much time worrying about what the neighbors thought and 'keeping up appearances' that she would spend less time paying attention to Harry. The less time the Dursleys spent thinking about little Harry, the more peace little Harry would have.


	13. Chapter 13

As a healer, Padma had an arsenal of spells at her command that even Harry as an Unspeakable did not. During her training, she had been taught how to bind the magic of a patient whose magic was out of control. Some binding were temporary but a few were permanent. Since there was no way to increase Petunia's magic to a usable level, they decided to bind it permanently in order to protect the boy. While Padma performed the spell on Petunia, Harry went downstairs to the hallway in front of the cupboard and waited for Padma. Once they were together, Harry pulled out the device and tapped in gently with his wand.

Padma gasped as she released Harry. When they had traveled back in time, the trip was slow and smooth lasting several seconds. The short trip forward was quick but almost painful. She felt like her entire body had been pinched between two giant fingers. Harry chuckled softly and apologized for not warning her while assuring her that only the shortest trips felt the worst.

They had only advanced 24 hours. Padma was terrified that little Harry would be re-injured by his relatives while they were gone. She quickly jumped to the cupboard door and flung it open. It was only 2am and still very early in the morning. Harry was sleeping on his mattress. She cast various diagnostic spells on him but found that he was unharmed and fully healed from his earlier experiences. Harry kneeled beside her and gently stroked the boy's head. The boy turned his head into the hand and sighed. Harry and Padma stood back and quietly closed the cupboard door. Harry quickly waved his wand and checked on the spells that they had previously cast and then double checked the wards on the house. As far as he knew, Dumbledore never bothered to check on him but Harry did not know if the old man had put any protections in place to monitor the house or its occupants. Satisfied that everything was well but disheartened that only the blood protection from his mother protected Harry and the house, Harry cast a few more unobtrusive spells on the house to protect it from harm, both magical and non-magical.

Padma and Harry drew back together in the hallway and he tapped the time device again with his wand. This time, the pinching sensation was less intense. Harry informed Padma that they had traveled a week from their last visit. Padma hurried to the cupboard and found a sleeping boy. She ran her tests and while he was uninjured, his overall health was less than perfect. The boy was slightly dehydrated. She tested his stomach and discovered that he had not eaten in at least 24 hours. She quickly spelled a nutrient potion directly into his stomach and confronted Harry with her findings.

Harry ran his fingers through his head and went upstairs to confront his relatives. He stunned his uncle and petrified his aunt. Then he disillusioned himself and woke Petunia. Unable to move but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she thought that she was still asleep and simply dreaming. Harry looked into her eyes and used legilimency on her. He watched as the boy was let out in the morning to use the bathroom and make breakfast for the everyone but himself. Vernon took Dudley to school while the boy had remained locked up in the cupboard when she was out all day doing errands. After she returned home, he was let out to use the bathroom again and to fix dinner before being returned to his cupboard for the night. While the boy was ignored by both Vernon and Dudley, Petunia simply forgot to feed him. Harry decided enough was enough. He thought for a moment and placed a nightmare into his aunt's mind.

_It was a beautiful fall day. Petunia was standing at her front window watching the neighbors pass by, silently criticizing them while smiling insincerely at them. Suddenly, several emergency vehicles and city maintenance vehicles rolled up the street in front of one of her neighbors homes and quickly the sidewalks filled with her neighbors and emergency workers. _

_The boy was in the kitchen working on scrubbing the floors so Petunia hissed at him to keep working and not to stop so she could find out what was going on. She stepped out into the porch and was approached by one of her neighbors who excitedly started talking to her. _

_An emergency worked came up to them and asked Petunia if this was her home and if anyone else was home. She informed him that she was alone that her husband was at work and her son was at school. He told her that there was a suspected gas leak and that she would have to evacuate the neighborhood until it was cleared. _

_Petunia went back into the house, told Harry to finish his chores that she had errands to run. She reminded him that he was not to answer the door for any reason or make any noise or he would be punished. She grabbed her coat and purse and went back outside after locking the door. _

_As she started to join her neighbors on the sidewalk, a voice came out of the crowd asking, "Where is little Harry? Where is your nephew?" _

_Petunia was startled. It was that nosy neighbor from few streets away. "I don't know what you are talking about", she replied. _

_The nearest emergency worker came over to her and she told him, "No one is home. My husband is at work and my son is at school." _

_The voice shouted again, "Harry is not in school. He must still be in the house." _

_This time, all of her neighbors were staring at her and looking at her house while she remained frozen. The emergency worker came up to her and took the keys from her hand and went toward her house._

"_No!" she said, "The house is empty". Her door was opened and worker came back out dragging the pale, scraggly boy with him. _

_The boy saw her and immediately started begging, "Please Aunt Petunia. It's not my fault. I didn't answer the door or make any noise. Please don't hurt me or lock me in the cupboard. I'm so hungry. Please!" _

_Petunia was frozen as all her neighbors stood and stared accusingly at her. The family car pulled up to the curb and Vernon and Dudley jumped out of the car. Dudley shouted, "Look, it's the freak. He's not allowed outside. Can I beat him this time? It's MY turn." _

_Dudley went over to one of the other children who had appeared with the adults on the sidewalk."See! I told you we had a freak in the house who had to do all the chores." _

_Dudley danced around mimicking a boxer by punching his fists in the air in front of him while Vernon simply turned purple. Dudley looked to his father as said, "This is better than Christmas when all you gave the freak was an old coat hanger and sent him to his cupboard without any food." He looked at this mother and said, "I'm hungry. What did the freak cook for dinner?" _

_Petunia could only stand in frozen horror as her neighbors were glaring at her, one policeman was handcuffing a purple-faced Vernon, another approached her with his handcuffs out, and several emergency workers as wrapping the little boy in blankets and picking him up to head for a nearby ambulance. _

Petunia woke with a start. She was unfrozen but the dream was still lingering in her mind. In her heart, she loved her son but knew that he would never be able to keep his mouth shut for very long. The secrets would be out and the entire neighborhood would be laughed and pointing their fingers at her and her family. She would do anything in the world to protect Vernon and Dudley and knew what her next course of action would be. In the hallway below, Harry and Padma had already left for their next stop.


	14. Chapter 14

It was three days later when Harry and Padma had returned. They both approached the cupboard and opened the door. While Padma performed her diagnostic spells, Harry examined the interior of the cupboard. The little boy had more possessions this time. Including the cheap pair of glasses that his Aunt had picked out for him from the bargain bin at the doctor's office. He delicately reached out and touched them and remembered when his aunt had taken him to the doctor for a checkup and his shots.

_The paperwork involved in enrolling him in school was easier to handle than she expected but the doctor's office worried her. She made sure to explain that her nephew had only recently been dropped off at her door by friends of her late sister. She was amazed when the doctor could only find a problem with his eyesight. As soon as Vernon and Dudley left the morning after her nightmare, she dug out the papers that had been dropped off with Harry and immediately called the school to enroll the boy._

_Luckily, she was able to get him into the pediatrician's office straight away. She warned the boy to say as little as possible and not to disagree with anything that she told anyone. She explained that he had arrived only a few weeks before and had been very ill with a bad cold. When asked by the school why she waited to enroll him, she also told them that she thought the boy was mentally slow and didn't think that he was up to the doing the work. _

Harry looked at the other items in the cupboard. His brown paper bag that he carried his supplies to school was placed prominently beside the cupboard door. After glancing in the bag and seeing a few sheets of loose paper and a few pencil stubs, Harry quickly conjured a small box of inexpensive crayons and placed them in the bag.

He saw a stack of Dudley's old clothes placed neatly in the cupboard. As he went through them, he placed softening and strengthening charms on them. He knew that Dudley would quickly be expanding sideways and wanted the smaller sized clothes to fit last as long as possible. Harry made sure to shrink only the underwear as shrinking the outer clothes would attract too much attention by his aunt.

Padma informed him that the little boy was still healthy and physically okay. Harry placed his hand on the boy's head and stroked his hair. The boy sighed and smiled and snuggled into his pillow. Padma and Harry stepped back into the hallway and was gone again.

The next time they appeared it was a few months later and mid-winter. They could hear the howling of the wind outside. The hallway was cool but not cold. When they opened the cupboard door, they could feel the cold air creeping out. They looked in a saw the boy shivering in the cold. Padma performed her usual diagnostic charms and then placed a warming charm on the boy. Then Harry transformed the thin blanket that the boy slept with into a thick warm duvet but spelled it to look like the original thin blanket.

Padma was worried because Harry had a slight cold. Harry told her that his family would not take care of the child. She went to the kitchen and found leftover soup in the refrigerator. She warmed some of the broth from the soup and took it to the cupboard. She told Harry what she planned to do. Harry placed a weak confusion spell on the boy and woke him up.

The little boy thought that he was dreaming. He felt so cold and achy when he had gone to bed. Now he was warm and surrounded by angels. One of them gave him something yucky to drink but it quickly made him feel better. Then another angel gave him a mug of warm broth which he slowly drink while being cradled and rocked by the nice angels. The lady angel hummed a sweet lullaby as he drink the broth while the other angel stroked his hair. It felt so nice that he quickly fell back to sleep when the mug of broth was empty.

Padma lay the little boy back onto the mattress and tucked him in under the warm duvet. Harry went downstairs to basement. He examined the duct work and realized that none of heat from the furnace went near the cupboard. He traced them to find the one closest to the cupboard. It was the one leading to his uncle's study. He redirected the duct work so that one of them went straight under the cupboard and then placed a notice me not on it so that his relatives would not notice the changes. He then went to the thermostat and increased it a few degrees. He went back to the cupboard and felt the floorboards. He could already feel a difference in the temperature. Harry and Padma went back into the hallway to go to there next stop.

This time Harry advanced them only two days to check on Harry's cold and the temperature of the cupboard. After verifying that everything was okay, they advanced a few months to springtime. Padma was worried because it had been a few months but other than still being too small and slightly underweight, the boy was still uninjured. Harry was not to worried about the boy because he knew that Petunia was afraid of what school officials and teachers might say about any suspicious injuries. He was concerned about the summer months when there was nothing but endless chores and no one outside of his relatives to notice if anything happened to him. While school was in session, his aunt was forced to fix him a small sack lunch to take to school. He remembered wishing that school was everyday of the week and year-round so that he knew that he would have food everyday. After spelling a nutrient potions into the little boy's stomach, they closed the cupboard door and advanced time again.

The summer heat warmed up the hallway when they reappeared. Even though it was nighttime, the warm air still caught them by surprise. Padma went to check on the boy while Harry went to the backyard. He barely remembered the backyard before his aunt put him to work. There was much more yard and fewer flowerbeds. The fence that he remembered being forced to paint every other month looked like it had not seen paint since it was first built. The shrubbery that he was forced to prune weekly were only half-grown and looked like they had never been touched by pruners at all. The beautiful rosebushes that won his aunt awards in later years did not even exist at this point.

He went to the front yard and realized that none of the flowerbeds that he slaved over every summer existed yet. Slowly he started to review his memories and realized that every rose bush and flowerbed that his aunt raved at him about, he had built and cared for himself. He remembered his aunt raving about her rosebush this or her flowerbed that, and threatening to punish him if he hurt or did not care properly for them. He remembered that every weekend and summer, his aunt would have him out in the yard, weeding, mowing, pruning, or painting.

Harry returned to Padma's side while she finished examining the boy. The boy was sound asleep, completely exhausted even though it was a few hours before he would be woken up to fix breakfast for the family. Padma explained that even though the boy was not sick, he was still underweight, too small, and now sunburned. She showed him the little boy's hands which were blistered and starting to scar. She then healed the boy's hand and sunburned skin. She explained what she needed and Harry left and returned a few minutes later with what she had requested.

She spelled another nutrient potion and a sun protection potion into the boy's stomach. The new potion was long-lasting and worked for six months and would protect him from the damage that frequent sunburns could cause. She also placed a glamor on his skin that would last a few months to keep it looking sunburned to fool his relatives until school restarted. She placed a large jar of muggle skin cream in the his cupboard for him to find. She wrote "Rub into hands every night" on the lid. Harry remembered the jar from his childhood but thought that his aunt had put it in the cupboard for him to find. Padma and Harry went back to the hallway and advanced again.


	15. Chapter 15

When they appeared, Harry immediately noticed something strange on the floor. He went to pick it up but made a small noise in his throat and immediately went to the cupboard door before Padma could even say a word.

Padma looked at the black hair on the floor and went to kneel beside Harry in the cupboard doorway. Inside the tear-streaked face of the bald little boy was almost unbearable. The only hair left on his head was long bangs covering his forehead and a few sparse springs uneven spaced on his head. There were also scrapes and bruises were someone had tried to force his head still. The fingerprint shaped bruises standing out like a neon sign.

Harry had forgotten about the haircut. Aunt Petunia was so upset about his hair and refused to pay to take him to a barber. When she had let him out of his cupboard to go to the bathroom in the morning, she had caught him staring at his scar in the reflection. She stewed all day becoming more and more angry. She did not even force him to do any chores. He was forced to stay in his cupboard all day so he simply straightened up his stuff to get ready for school the next day.

By the time Vernon had returned from work and Dudley from playing at his friend's house, she was like a volcano ready to explode. Vernon took one look at her and quickly took Dudley out to eat at his favorite fast food restaurant. Petunia ordered the boy into the kitchen. She had clippers and scissors laid out on the table. The boy thought that he was going to fix dinner until she ordered him to sit. Without any warning, she immediately started hacking away at his hair.

The boy was terrified and starting shaking. She forced his head still with one hand and grabbed the clippers and starting buzzing away at his head. When she let go, he immediately ran to his cupboard and climbed inside. She simply came and locked the door behind him. He waited until he heard the sounds of his aunt cleaning the kitchen and his uncle and cousin returning. Then he simply lay on his bed and quietly wept himself to sleep.

Harry shook as the memories overtook him. Padma placed a deep sleep spell on the boy and then held Harry for several minutes until he was able to control himself again. She informed him that when they had finished everything, they were going to have a long talk. Padma turned back to the boy and began preforming diagnostic charms on him. Then she healed his scrapes and bruises. Finally, she repaired his hair back to its normal appearance while neatly trimming it just a bit shorter and neater. She conjured a warm cloth and gently washed the boy's face and scourgified all the loose hairs that were still lingering on the boy's neck, clothing, and bedding. Padma removed the deep sleep spell and stroked the boy's restored hair. Padma and Harry went back into the hallway but before tapping the time device, Harry disillusioned them and guided her into the shower stall of the downstairs's lavatory.

Padma was not sure what was happening until they appeared several hours later. The sun was coming up and they were still hidden from view when Petunia banged on the boy's cupboard door. Petunia continued on to the kitchen with a spring in her step before the boy had even exited his cupboard. He awoke and immediately remembered the horrible night before. He reached up to touch his head and felt hair. He quickly ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His horror quickly turned into glee. He looked at his hair from every angle and felt it with his fingers. It looked even better than before his aunt shaved it. He felt something that he rarely ever felt. He was happy. He smiled so big that the teeth in the back of his mouth showed in the mirror. And then a noise came out of his mouth that he didn't even recognize. He had laughed. He quickly quieted down but could not stop smiling. He did his best to keep his head down so his relatives could not see the smile when he entered the kitchen. Petunia turned to look at the boy and nearly swallowed her tongue.

She knew that she had cut his hair. She remembered every second of the last evening and even went to the garbage bin and saw the hairs that she had swept up off the floor. The boy just went to the stove and started breakfast while Petunia started on the boys' lunches. Harry and Padma had quietly entered the kitchen and watched Petunia's face. After she looked in the garbage bin, Harry hit her with an Obliviate to remove the memory of the haircut before he and Padma quickly left the room. When Vernon and Dudley came down to breakfast, Dudley did not even notice Harry's hair, he was too busy chattering about the new school year. Vernon noticed the slightly shorter cut but then went back to ignoring the boy. Petunia continued her day as usual thinking only about how nice it was that the boys were in school and she had the house to herself.

Padma and Harry continued their visits only stopping once for a quick bite. When Harry pointed out that they had all the time in the whole, Padma reminded him that she wanted this finished and completed. She would not stop worrying until they were through. The visits continued with a nutrient potion every six months or so. When he remembered a particular injury, like the dog scratches after Marge's visits, his twisted ankle when he fell out of the tree in the yard, or the bumps and bruises when the gang had caught him during Harry-Hunting, they would jump in and fix the boy's injuries.

After what Padma thought was their last stop before returning to their own time, Harry once again grew a great big smile and disillusioned them before tapping the time device. This time they appeared in a small dirty shack in the middle of a storm. Harry quickly put his arms around Padma and pulled her into the corner of the room as a small digital beeping started sounding. She peered around the room as Harry whispered for her to be quiet no matter what happened. She was glad of the warning as a large thudding sounded at the door before it broke and fell into the room as Hagrid stepped into the cabin to give Harry his Hogwarts letter. Padma could feel Harry grinning behind her as Hagrid met the little boy and explained about Hogwarts. As Hagrid lay on the couch to sleep until morning, Padma and Harry finally returned to their own time.


	16. Chapter 16

Harry and Padma finally returned to the backroom of her clinic finding themselves shortly after they had left with the boy. Padma started cleaning up and putting things back in their proper place while Harry helped. Finally, she took his hand and took him into a large room above the clinic. It had a large fireplace, large bookcases, and a large picture window that overlooked the park. It was still early morning just before sunrise as the sky was beginning to change color.

Padma pointed her wand at the fireplace, started a roaring fire, and pushed Harry onto a large comfortable sofa. She sat next to him and put his arm around her shoulder while covering them with a blanket. Then she ordered him to talk. And he did.

He opened up to her in a way that he never could with others, not even his friends. They talked for hours and hours. He told her his story and then she told him hers. It did not matter that she first met him as the Boy-Who-Lived or crushed on him at school. She knew the real Harry, the frightened abused little boy who did not even know about magic until he was eleven. She held him, rocked him, and loved for who he had been and who he was now.

**Epilogue (Four years later)**

Harry and Padma drove up to the parking lot outside the fence. Padma looked over at the children playing in the yard while Harry discretely used his wand to detect the origins of the magical signs emitting from the building. The traces were concentrated on second level of the old stone building. Harry and Padma exited their car and entered the building. The orphanage's manager met them at the door as they were right on time for their appointment. The manager ushered them into her office.

Padma sat at the chair in front of the desk while Harry went to the picture window that overlooked the children's play yard. While Padma distracted the manager with questions about the orphanage, Harry pointed his wand out the window looking for any trace of magic cores within the children.

Harry asked if all the children were in the yard and the manager assured them that all the children were either in the yard or gone off-grounds but today no one is scheduled to be away. Harry asked the manager if they could look around where the children stay. When the manager asked why, Padma explained that Harry preferred to get to know a child by seeing everything. They manager agreed and escorted them to the second floor and gave them a of the dormitories.

Harry discretely pointed his wands at the various doors and indicated the last door on the right. Padma asked the manager if she could glance inside and just take a peek at one of them and them pointed to the door that Harry had indicated. The manager opened the door and steeped aside.

Before anyone could say anything, they heard a threatening voice and they all rushed in the room. Two boys with pinched, angry looks appeared to be threatening a closet door. The manager ordered them to explain but both of them said that they were not doing anything and forgot a toy that they wanted to take outside. The manager rigidly ordered the children out into the yard and the hurriedly left.

The manager then tried to brush away the incident but Harry walked over to the closet and opened the door. A small blond boy huddled in the corner of the half bare closet when they door opened the boy cringed and balled himself into a tight ball. Padma rushed to the boy while Harry confronted the manager. Harry wanted the manager to explain why he did not know that one of the boys was being bullied by the others. While Harry had the manager distracted, Padma performed diagnostic charms on the boy.

Padma had her results. The boy was injured and was magical. Padma confronted the manager about the boy's injuries while Harry coaxed the boy out of the closet. When the boy realized that a stranger was talking to him, he started to come out of the closet but when he saw the manager, he covered his head with his hands and started mewling and rocking his body.

Harry had enough. He petrified the manager and used legilimency on him. He discovered that the manager allowed a gang of the older children to control the younger, weaker children. This blond boy was causing the manager the most problems because his bouts of accidental magic. Harry pulled out his cell phone and called Hermione. As head of the Magical Children's Welfare Department, she ordered the squad of Aurors and healers who were waiting on standby in her office to Harry's location.

They quickly brought all the children inside and gathered the ringleaders together. They silenced and petrified them while the healers and Aurors started their investigation. After several hours, all the injured children had been healed and their memories had been modified.

The manager's gang of children had been individually questioned. Those who were forced to participate had their memories modified. Only three of the gang were not forced but enjoyed bossing the other children around for the privileges that they received. Those three and the manager were taken by Aurors for detailed questioning to discover all their crimes to identify other possible victims.

Hermione had contacted her Muggle counterpart who sent a new manager over to the orphanage and removing the child from the Muggle computer system and give its information to Hermione's office to try to identify if the child had any family. The new manager had been told that the old manager had run off and abandoned the orphanage. Before the new manager arrived, the healers took the magical child with them while the Aurors removed the child's existence from the orphanage's records.

Padma and Harry left after answering the questions of the new manager. They left their contact information if they were needed and drove out of sight. They exited the car and Harry shrank it and placed it in his pocket, then they apparated to Hermione's office for the debriefing. By the time that they returned to their home, their own two children were fast asleep. Padma's mother had tea ready for them and they told her about the day's events.

As they went to bed together, Harry was glad that he and his wife decided to help other magical children orphaned in the muggle world. What they did for Harry made them realize that they had the tools and resources to help many others. Harry went to Hermione and presented their ideas to her.

Hermione and her department were already routinely scanning muggle orphanages and foster homes for signs of magical outbursts. They actively tracked magical outbursts in non-magical areas and worked with the MLE and the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office (now headed by Penelope Clearwater) to seek out possible magical children. Harry used his skills as an Unspeakable to investigate where the children came from.

[If the magical children are in orphanages or foster homes, then Hermione's department works to remove them to find magical relatives or place them in a magical foster home. (Arthur Weasley retired from the Ministry and he and Molly are happily raising four magical foster children.) If the muggleborn child is being properly cared for by their Muggle guardians, then the child and their home life are monitored until they become eleven. If magical relatives can be found then the muggleborn (usually descendants of Squibs) and their magical families are reunited.]

Padma and Harry donated one weekend every month (with two other couples) to investigate muggle orphanages and foster homes where magical traces are detected by posing as couples looking to adopt. Sometimes if they have spare time, they will simply go to muggle parks with their children and routinely scan for magical children who may be hidden in the muggle world.

THE END

Thank you to everyone who read this story (whether you commented or favorite'd it or not).

I also want to thank the Harry Potter Wiki for helping me keep my facts straight.


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